A Praetor's Kiss
by ateengirlneedsbooks
Summary: Reyna visits Cam Half-Blood a lot, but she has never seen somebody like Clarisse.


The first time they met, Reyna was visiting Camp Half-Blood to make some arrangements with Jason about the exchange program. She had not been here since the battle, and the place did not hold happy memories for her. Sure, they had defeated Gaea here, but they and also lost a lot of their population. It had been a point of stress between both camps for a while, but now? It had all passed. The heroes would not be forgotten, but the would not be the start of another rear. Much less one between the camps, as she knew they had both had their losses.

Hazel and Frank constantly told her to visit CHB, but she always out it off with excuses. They visited often, for Percy mainly, but she had nothing left here. She was not dire with the need to meet new people, and she was not expecting new people to want to meet her either. There were still time when she felt lonely, but she had learnt to push it to the back of her mind.

She was also expecting something bad to happen, and was not amused when there was an infiltration through the borders. Nothing too serious, but being Reyna, she went to check it out.

It was in the middle of the fight when her senses tingled, and she saw a sword heading for her. She had just finished another monster, and was not expecting this. SO it was a surprise when a girl leaped up from where she had been before and impaled the monster in the stomach, making it go down in dust.

She looked for the girl afterwards, and when she asked Nico and described her to him, he made a face.

"That's Clarisse La Rue." He said. "She's and Ares-or Mars, whatever-kid. She gives the campers their initiation routine. She also fought bravely in the war. Defeated a whole hoard of monsters alone, using her father's blessing. She traveled with Percy to the Sea Of Monsters, and is the official person who brought back the Golden Fleece. Her boyfriend, Chris, died not long ago."

Nico was reluctant to give her any more details, so she went to ask the only other person who might now something about her. Percy was training when she found him, and he nodded to acknowledge her. The moment he finished his exercises, he met up with her outside of the Poseidon cabin. When asked about Chris, Percy's face hardened.

"He died after the war." He said. "He suicided. He had PSTD, and one day he decided he couldn't take it anymore. So he did it. Clarisse is still broken up about it."

Reyna asked about her more, and Percy demanded to know why she was inquiring him. She told him about her saving her, and he smiled.

"Yeah, that's Clarisse." Percy said. "I mean, what do you want to know? She's suffered many losses, and she's a year-round camper. She's probably one of the in the ranks, both ordering and fighting. She's smart, strong, and powerful, although she _is_ impulsive. I got Ares to stop bothering her, so she owes me, but I think she already repaid me. Not that it's really that important."

She decided she had enough information on her for now, and thanked Percy. Later on, she found Clarisse and thanked her, but the girl just shrugged it off.

"It's not really that much of a deal here." She said.

They didn't speak after that, and Reyna went back to Camp Jupiter without much happening.

The second time they met, was pure coincidence. Reyna had been persuaded by Frank to leave the charge t him for a weekend, and go somewhere with Hylla. After much fighting, she had obliged, and left Camp Jupiter to his hands. He was quite capable, but it was not that which worried her. She hadn't really left Camp a lot recently, and she was getting quite tired of people being thrown at her.

Or of people in general.

So she was with Hylla, on a deserted coast, chatting and remembering other times, when the sea erupted and gigantic sea monster came out. It was not one she had sen before, so she took out her sword at the same time Hylla took her knives out. Still, they barely and time to attack before somebody launched themselves onto the monster.

She didn't know from where they had come, but she watched in fascination the tactics the attacker was using. They were fierce, and clearly knew how to do what they were doing. The attacker delivered one final blow, the death strike, before jumping form the monster and into the water. When the monster finally sunk back, the attacker barely made it to the seashore before fainting.

She and her sister took the half-blood out of the water, then took their mask off. It wasn't hard to recognize her, and Reyna found herself looking at Clarisse La Rue's face. Luckily, they had rented a small home so they could sleep somewhere not too crowded. The small house was made of wood and had a few loose planks, but it was not hard to get Clarisse inside.

They nursed her back to health, and by them time she woke up, Reyna had planned out a whole greeting. She was rudely interrupted.

"You don't have to give me the whole welcome speech, thanks." She said.

"I know that, but I would rather introduce myself, in case you have forgotten me." Reyna said, not miffed by the interruption.

"How could I have forgotten you?" Clarisse said. "You owe me a favor. Owed, that is."

"I thought you Greeks didn't do that kind of things?" Reyna said.

"Well, we certainly are less formal than you guys," she said, sitting up in the sofa she had been laying down on. "But that doesn't mean we don't like to be repaid."

"What are you even doing here?" Reyna said. "We are far from Camp Half-Blood, and I was not expecting to find you here."

"Well, we have this things called quests." Clarisse said. "I think you guys have them too."

"Yes, but we do not have them alone. We go in groups of three." Reyna interjected.

"Shhh, I know that!" Clarisse said. "My group and I split. We're supposed to meet up the 25th."

"Today is the 25th." Reyna said.

"Oh jeez, then I better get back to those losers."

Clarisse stood up and bid Reyna and her sister goodbye, before going the way she had come from.

The third time they met, Reyna was visiting CHB again. This time, it was by her own will, not some meeting with Jason. They were all traveling back to CHB for Halloween, and she was accompanied by Hazel and Frank. Percy and Annabeth had also come back form university to celebrate the occasion. Not all of the campers were, like her, understood why Halloween was such a big deal. They did enjoy themselves, nonetheless.

Reyna had never been to a bonfire at CHB until now. She did not know what she was missing until the bonfire itself started, and she was not afraid to say it was very beautiful. The fire grew and changed color according to the mood of the campers, and they partied all night. They sang beautiful songs, they told spooky stories to each other, and laughed and screamed together. She had fun.

She hadn't really dressed up before for Halloween, but this time her friends insisted. So she showed up in a pirate costume Percy's friend Rachel had gotten her. Apparently Rachel was the unofficial costume maker, and she had to admit it was pretty cool. And pretty realistic. She would know.

They and a lot of fun, and she didm;t notice she had been a little zoned out until Frank asked her if she was okay. She said yes, looked away, then blushed when she realized what she had been thinking about. Or, better phrased, _who_ she was thinking about. What was going on with her?

Still, she enjoyed the rest of the evening, and the younger campers went to sleep early. She was gong to bed herself when she was somehow roped into a game of Truth or Dare. How did she come to this? Go figure.

So it was about midnight when it was finally her turn to get a dare. They were all playing. The Seven, Nico and Will, who had just started dating, The Stolls, and some older kids. It did not escape Reyna's attention that Carisse was also playing. Piper was supposed to give Clarisse a dare, and she had to admit she was a bit nervous. When Piper finally spoke, Reyna had to resist from punching her.

"So, Clarisse." Piper said, and a smirk spread across her face. "I dare you to kiss the person you find the most attractive in this room."

Reyna got chills, but she tried to hide it well.

"Attractive in personality, or in looks?" Clarisse said, not losing her nerve.

"Both." Piper said.

"Sure." She replied.

She looked around the room for a moment before settling on the person she wanted to kiss. She stood up, then closed her eyes for a moment, before going to where Reyna was sitting. She sat next to her, grabbed her chin gently, and kissed her. Reyna froze, and tensed, before surprising even herself and kissing back. The whole room whooped, and Reyna could hear Nico laughing. She wanted to kill him, but she was too occupied looking into Clarisse's eyes. She broke into a grin, and saw her do the same.

They sat together for the rest of the night.


End file.
